The Diffusion of Cohabitation Among Immigrants in Europe: The Role of the National Cohabitation Context

Abstract Immigrants and their descendants constitute an increasing share of European populations, yet research on how immigrant background shapes the cohabitation experience remains limited. This study investigates how generational status at the individual level and national context at the macro level influence the likelihood of ever having cohabited. Our central proposition is that the diffusion of cohabitation among immigrants is more pronounced in countries where the practice is common and socially accepted among the native population. We analysed pooled data from the European Social Survey (ESS; 2002–2023), encompassing 444,794 respondents across 32 countries. Mixed-effects modelling points to generational adaptation: descendants of immigrants are more likely to have ever cohabited than immigrants, though the magnitude of this difference varies across countries. The prevalence of cohabitation among natives emerges as a strong contextual predictor, increasing the likelihood of cohabitation for both immigrants and their descendants, and narrowing migrant-native differences in settings where cohabitation is more common. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that lifetime cohabitation among immigrants and their descendants is not merely a product of individual traits but is fundamentally shaped by the normative climate of the host country.